(Chapter 2): Bells of Ireland

Author's Note:: I considered writing out a full day at the campgrounds of the Quidditch World Cup, but I decided that you'd probably rather we get right to meeting the Weasley twins, so I decided to get right to it. (:

The family spent the majority of the day inside of their tent, laughing and joking. Of course, within the hour of getting there and setting up the tent Wren climbed into her bed and took a nap, waking up to the laughter of her parents and aunt and uncle who had apparently been drinking some Firewhiskey in order to get into the right spirit for the game. Of course, after waking Wren up, they decided that perhaps it would be best to save the rest of the alcohol for celebration, but the merriment and excitement continued until dusk.

"The saleswizards are out!" Nora called, popping her head back in the tent.

"Let me get my boots on." Wren said, lifting herself out of the chair she'd been sitting in, listening to her father and uncle trade stories about their departments at the Ministry. She hurried back to her bunk slipping the shoes up and quickly doing the laces.

"Are you coming?" Nora asked. By her tone she was asking the adults.

"I think I can spare a few Sickles on the Irish." Her Uncle Jonathan answered. Wren came out of the sleeping area and saw the adults slowly getting up.

"You're going to be spending more than a few Sickles, dear." Her Aunt Kathleen corrected. "And if you're touchy about your Galleons, then you shouldn't have married me." Her Uncle laughed and kissed his wife on the forehead.

"Ready then?" Nora asked beaming at Wren.

"Let's go." Wren nodded. Today was one of the few days where Wren was able to keep up with Nora's bubbly energy. It was something about the spirit of Quidditch matches—especially big ones like this one—that really got Wren excited and ready for everything. All over saleswizards walked around, carrying trays and pushing carts and shouting out for people to come give a look and buy one of the shiny goods.

"Looks like the Ministry gave up on the Statue of Secrecy." Wren's father commented as a new salesman Apparated with a tray of rosettes. "Looking forward to tomorrow then, Jonathan?"

"I spend four years looking forward to it." Her uncle, a respectable Obliviator, answered, his tone clearly contradicting his words, but he still smiled. Wren looked at the bright green rosettes that began to squeal the names of players. Eagerly she emptied a bit of the money from her purse and purchased one, the rest of her family soon following suit, "since he's already here," her uncle justified.

They perused various other carts and trays. Her aunt bought a flag, and her mother donned a pointy green hat with dancing shamrocks on it in spite of Wren's father's protestations that she would never wear it again. Of course minutes later her father bought a miniature Firebolt that zoomed around in circles.

"I may never wear this again, but you already have twenty of those." Wren's mother pointed out.

"I don't have twenty Firebolts." Wren's father corrected. "Each year is a different broom!" He sounded like a child, and Wren laughed at him for it.

"Hey!" Nora's voice called from where she had skipped up ahead. "Look at these!" Wren jogged a little to get there, slowing herself by putting an arm around her cousin's shoulders and pulling herself back to stand shoulder to shoulder with Nora.

"What are they?" Wren asked looking at the tiny binoculars.

"Omnioculars, I should think." Wren's father answered before the saleswizard could.

"Ahh, so you've heard of these little beauties." The saleswizard says eagerly.

"What are they?" Wren asked, hoping for a clearer answer.

"You can replay action, do a play by play break down, slow everything down. A must have for every spectator." The saleswizard answered. "And they're at a bargain price. Just ten Galleons each." Wren's mother snorted.

"That's hardly a bargain." She answered. "Come on girls, we'll be fine without these."

Wren and Nora who were used to this game after years of attending the Quidditch World Cup, shrugged and started to walk away, Nora letting out a sad: "Oh, ok." It was perhaps the most effective haggling trick in their book.

"Now, wait just a second!" The saleswizard called and Wren's mother turned back. The girls carefully waited for a second before turning back to watch her walk over.

"Yes?" her mother asked. When dealing with issues of money or work, Wren's mother turned into a different person. She was the picture of professionalism and class and extremely intimidating.

"I can see you're a smart witch and that your girls really want these Omnioculars." He was obviously floundering a little bit, as Wren and Nora had made no sign that they must have those Omnioculars besides Nora's initial reaction. Of course, Wren desperately wanted a pair, but as her mother was working to get her the best price, she couldn't just go over and buy them. "For you, and only you, 16 for two of 'em." He offered.

"16?" She answered. "I'd give you 13 for them."

"13 for the two?" he looked horrified. "I'd be out of a job! My kids would starve! The best I can do is 15." Wren's mother paused considering it.

"Very well. 15 for two." She answered, taking out the 15 galleons and paying the man. He begrudgingly handed them over, as if unsure as to why he would give them away for so cheap. No doubt he'd raise the price for the next poor wizard.

"Here you go, girls." Wren's mother beamed, handing both the pairs of Omnioculars. "Enjoy." A deep gong boomed from somewhere beyond the woods, and instantly green and red lanterns lit up in the trees.

"Perfect timing!" her aunt smiled. "Shall we, then?" The family moved towards the stands.

x.X.x.

The family climbed up to the box, excitedly chattering about the game, Aunt Kathleen violently waved her flag whenever they passed any Bulgaria fans, attempting to drown out their conversation with the national anthem. Wren was certain that she was going to incite an international incident before they got up to the box.

To Wren's relief, her Aunt Kathleen had incited nothing more than a few glares, by the time to get to the box. The box was set at the absolutely highest point of the stadium, exactly halfway between the goal posts, and directly across from the blackboard. Inside the box were twenty-five purple chairs in two rows, and as they entered, Wren noticed that the first row of the box was already filled. Slightly disappointed that they wouldn't be getting the best seats, Wren and Nora led the way into the second row, sitting themselves squarely in the middle of the row. "Stephen, these seats are fantastic." Wren's mother complimented, beaming. They had never been in the box before. Wren looked over the row of red hair, attempting to get a better look at the pitch.

"Aren't they though?" a man from the row in front of them commented, turning around. "Don't mean to intrude, but I couldn't help but agree." He smiled good-naturedly. He looked familiar, and it took a second before Wren was able to place his face. She'd seen him every year on platform 9¾ amongst a gaggle of redheads. He had to be a Weasley, and judging by the number of other redheads that sat beside him, he'd brought almost all of his lot with him. Wren wasn't sure why she hadn't immediately jumped to the conclusion upon seeing them. "Ah, Jonathan!" Mr. Weasley stood up.

"Arthur!" her uncle returned, warmly. Wren's uncle moved to get around the rest of his family so that he could heartily shake Mr. Weasley's hand. "Glad to see you up here in the box."

"Likewise." Mr. Weasley returned, pleasantly surprised. "Thought you'd be on duty."

"Luckily, no." her uncle responded. "Had duty the past two weeks so I could get off for this one."

"Did they give you these tickets for your work?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Actually, Stephen got these seats as a thanks from Barty Crouch for all of the work he did to help prepare. I assume you've met my brother-in-law Stepehen Collings, before?" her uncle introduced, and now her father filed past Wren and Nora, bumping into their legs so he could shake Mr. Weasley's hands. Wren was just glad that the seat next to Nora was unoccupied still.

"Ah, yes, Stephen. Pleasure to see you!" Mr. Weasley greeted. Wren knew that her father knew Mr. Weasley from around the ministry, and she had suspected that her uncle new Mr. Weasley as well, but she had not realized how friendly her uncle and Mr. Weasley were.

"Stephen Collings!" one of Mr. Weasley's sons exclaimed. Wren recognized him as being a former Gryffindor Prefect and Head-Boy. She had a difficult time stifling at a laugh as she watched Percy Weasley bow lowly in greeting to her father. In return, her father smiled close-mouthed at the boy, the smile reserved for those who severely annoyed him, but he had to be civil towards. Percy Weasley had been the center of many-a-story at the dinner table as his eagerness to join the ministry and work his way up in the ranks frequently found himself kissing up to her father's boss, Barty Crouch, and sometimes even to Wren's father himself. Wren had known that her father was a respectable member of the Department of International Wizarding Law, but she had not realized just how much until she had seen her former stiff and aloof prefect's glasses fall off his face for bowing so lowly. Wren again found herself attempting to hide a snigger as her father oscillated between addressing him as Weasley and Weatherby, her father's personal favorite of the names that Mr. Crouch called the young worker. In fact, Percy was hardly ever called Percy at home, even by Wren. He much more often graced their conversation after the lead in of, "You'll never guess what Weatherby did today…" Wren's attempts (or, more accurately, failed attempts) to suppress her delight did not go unnoticed as her mother gave her a light pinch. Wren looked up at her mother, a bit ashamed and noticed that while her mother was giving a "Be good" look, she was clearly biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling.

"Is this your lot then, Jonathan?" Mr. Weasley asked, pulling the conversation back to a topic that both groups would have some interest in, rather than listening to Percy prattle on and Wren's father make fun of him without him knowing.

"Ah, yes. Well, our lot." Her uncle corrected himself. "There is my sister, Addy and my wife Kathleen. This is Addy's daughter, Wren, and my daughter Nora." Mr. Weasley shook all of the hands he could reach.

"I guess that leads my pack then." He laughed. "There's my older sons, Bill and Charlie. George, and Fred, Ginny, Percy, you know, my son, Ron, and his friends Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

"Merlin's beard, it is. Harry Potter. Pleasure to meet you." Wren's father said. Harry smiled nervously.

"Erm, yeah."

For all of the times Wren's father made fun of Percy, he sounded an awful lot like him in that moment. Wren was about to tease her father, when she found herself addressed.

"So you're Ireland fans?" The twins had turned around in their seat, and looked eagerly at Nora and Wren. They were absolutely identical down to the last freckle (Wren had heard that this was impossible, but she suspected that whoever had decided that it was impossible had never met the Weasley twins.) The only hope of being able to tell them apart was in their demeanor, the way they held themselves, talked to you, their actions, and their voices, which were ever so slightly different. Angelina had revealed as much in her various discussions/rants about the Weasley twins.

"Bit obvious then?" Wren asked with a grin. She had expected Nora to jump in and say something, but she found her cousin had taken up Wren's cause and was off trying to save Harry Potter from their dads' eager questions. "But what about yourselves? Not enough of a fan of either team to even buy a rosette?"

"Not even a rosette, she said." One said to the brother. This had to be Fred. He was always the instigator.

"That's what I heard." The other, George, nodded.

"We'll have you know that we made quite a wager on Ireland's victory."

"That so?" Wren asked. "Well best of luck. I reckon Krum might give us a run for our money, but honestly, Troy is loads better than Ivanova, and Quigley really knows how to hold a bat. Best beater I've seen in my life."

"Best beater you've ever seen?" George asked.

"How offensive." Fred commented. Before they could continue, Wren cut in, laughing.

"Sorry. The best professional beater I've seen in my life." Wren corrected herself. She had forgotten in the moment that the two were Gryffindor's beaters on the school Quidditch team.

"A cop out answer." Fred remarked.

"But we'll take what we can get." George finished, and the twins smiled.

"It's Wren Collings, right?" Fred asked.

"Angelina's dormmate?" George added. Wren nodded affirming their belief. While she had been going to school with them (and in t heir same house and year) for the past six years, she had never really had much of a conversation with the Weasley twins. She'd been around as Angelina or Alicia conversed with them, but she'd never been pulled into the circle. Wren had only been casual friends with the two girls up until the past year when she'd gotten much closer with her Angelina and Alicia. Alicia had gone through particularly bad boy troubles, and Wren had helped to console her and then gone the extra mile to make sure that he would never hurt her dormmate again.

"We've seen you at the Quidditch games." That was another thing. Wren's deep love for Quidditch drove her to be a spectator (and a rather vocal one at that) at all of the Quidditch games at Hogwarts. She was proud to support her dormmates and her house, and she was also never one to pass up the opportunity to inform those around her of just how much Slytherin sucked (when it came to Quidditch, of course).

"No way, 'cause I've seen you at Quidditch games too!" Wren responded as if she was absolutely shocked. The twins chuckled and she'd smiled.

"Hey, Wren—"

"Oh, this is my cousin, Nora." Wren introduced.

"Nice to meet you." The twins chorused.

"Nice to meet you too." Nora smiled. "But the games about to start."

"Oh!" Wren said. Somehow she'd missed her family passing by her to get back into their seats and she hadn't realized that the rest of the room had filled up and Ludo Bagman now looked around excitedly, holding his wand to his throat. Wren took out her Omnioculars and focused them on the field.

"Ladies and gentlemen. . . welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!" There was a loud roar as the spectators screamed and clapped. The stadium quivered with excitement as the blackboard wiped itself and now read BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0. "And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce…the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

"Veela!" Wren's uncle called, jamming his fingers into his ears; Wren's father followed suit. Wren watched as the beautiful women glided out onto the field and began to dance, and Wren began to see why her father and uncle reacted the way they did. While she considered them beautiful, and the music was certainly good and they danced quite well, the Veela simply did not have nearly the same effect on her that that they had on the boys. Wren found herself grabbing the back of Fred and George's shirts, and pulling them back down into their seats as they drifted closer to the edge of the box, despite the fact that she didn't actually know them that well. It appeared that Bill, Charlie, and Percy were wise enough to cover their ears, and Hermione and Mr. Weasley were seeing to Ron and Harry. As the leprechauns took the pitch and it began to rain gold upon them all. Wren and Nora laughed and danced around grabbing the gold and cramming it into their pockets before the game finally started.

x.X.x.

Ludo Bagman was a pretty good commentator, but nothing could beat Fred and George's commentary on the commentary as well as the game. Wren attempted to watch along with her Omnioculars, playing with the dial to speed things up and slow them down, to read the various plays that were being made, but she soon found herself to engulfed with playing with the Omnioculars than actually watching the game. So, when her mother asked to borrow them, Wren gave them away without an argument.

Troy scored the first goal and immediately Wren grabbed George's shoulders, who she was sitting behind, and used them as leverage to jump up and down. He handled it well, only making a small comment about how he was unaware that he'd been turned into a springboard, to which Wren remarked that he was a rather good springboard and might consider it as a career should school not work out.

When Krum pulled a Wronski Feint on Lynch, however, Wren went completely ballistic and started using very foul language to describe both Krum and his mother. Of course, being as vocal as she was, and given the fact that the Bulgarian Minister of Magic was in the box, Wren's mother promptly began scolding her equally loudly, which caused Fred and George to oscillate between fits of rage of Krum and fits of laughter over Wren being admonished.

Things really began to spiral after that when Ireland was awarded a penalty after Zograf's stunt on Mullet, and that caused the Veela to angrily dance again which led the referee to act very strangely indeed, and he had to be knocked out of it by a Mediwizard. Things got very dicey from there when the referee attempted to send off the Veela from the field and Volkov and Vulchanov landed arguing with the ref. From there another penalty was awarded to Ireland, followed by two more penalties for a grand total of four, and that is when Wren got to witness one of the most amazing sites she'd ever seen. The Veela transformed into angry bird-like creatures and began to shoot fire from their hands in a fight against the leprechauns.

"Now, this is what Hogwarts is missing!" Fred called, and Wren laughed before noticing the Quaffle up in the air.

"Look! Moran's got it! He's going for it! He scores!" Wren now shook Fred's shoulders for good measure. She did not let go though because in the next minute Quigley broke Krum's nose with a bludger. "I BLOODY LOVE HIM!" She screamed, her hands digging into Fred's shoulders who flinched and attempted to move away. Wren released him and was surprised that her mother didn't scold her again, but she was too busy jumping up and down. "You boys learn to play like him, and I guarantee I'll marry you. I'll marry you on the spot." Wren said. "But until then he'll always be the best. I LOVE QUIGLEY." They didn't even try to look offended, they just laughed at her. And then Wren caught sight of Lynch. The Irish Seeker had gone into a dive and Krum wasn't too far behind.

"Go! Go! GO!" Wren screamed, grabbing Nora's arm and squeezing it. Nora's own fists were clenched as she waited in eager anticipation.

"Come on!" Fred and George leaned over the railing. Nora was now jumping up and down in anticipation. Lynch ploughed into the ground, and Krum rose up higher his fist held high with a glint of gold in between his fingers. Wren had no time to be upset.

"WE WON!" the twins yelled, hugging each other before doing a little dance.

"Ireland! Ireland!" Nora chanted as Wren pulled her into a hug. Wren could faintly hear Aunt Kathleen's flag, and Nora broke away to hug her mother. The twins turned around and Wren held out both her hands in excitement.

"We won!" she screamed before leaning over the chairs and grabbing George's face between her hands, pulling him into a kiss.

Ending Thoughts:: Sudden right? Well we'll see what happens next. Getting caught up in the moment may or may not be a good thing. Also, I know these two chapters (and the next one as well) focus rather heavily on Wren's family, but this isn't a permanent thing. The story, as you might have guessed, revolves more around Wren & the Weasley twins. It's just important to set the family up for things that will come into play later (: